Gender Conflicts in Society

As the functionalist perspective states that society has different institutions that work together to make sure society is running in an efficient way, however. The conflict theory which is originated in the work of Karl Marx has an opposite point of view that demonstrates how the conflicts and tensions arise between different social groups in society when status, and power are unequally distributed among them, which create a push or an engine for social change. Furthermore, the conflicts also create a competition between the social groups to maintain the power, which in turn lead to wars and revolutions.

An example of the conflict theory would be the laborer (the bourgeoisie) works within a factory, earn a wage, and goes home with a paycheck. This may seem fair until you take into consideration that the owner (the proletariat) of that same factory must pay the worker a low wage to make any profit, which illustrates how society can be divided into two groups the wealthy and the poor.

When we examine gender from this perspective, we view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group, as men have more power in society than women.

Throughout history, women faced intense discrimination and inequality, because they were thought to have a limited mental capacity, and they were seen by society as a weak creature that is incapable of doing what men do. Hence, society has imposed the concept that women should be completely dependent on men in every aspect of there life, including their emotional, physical, and economical needs, and for women to be dependent will require them to compete against men to prove that they are able to be superior or as equal as men in society.

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Also, that competition, which is the nature of the conflict theory, is what will lead to the social change within society.

It is difficult for women to rise above men, as dominant group members create the rules for success and opportunity in society (Farrington and Chertok 1993). Capitalism creates more wealth, and since men are dominating, they will own more property, and will be the primary wage earners, and that means that women will have less advantage to advance in their job, and it also makes them completely dependent on men’s incomes. Moreover, cultural beliefs, and traditions require women to stay at home, do chores, and raise children, as long as their husbands are working and earning money, which, also add more burdens on the women, because they will have a disadvantage position within the family. So, conflict theorists suggest that when women become wage earners, they can gain power in the family structure and create more democratic arrangements in the home, although they may still carry most of the domestic burden, (Rismanand and Johnson-Sumerford 1998). But, since men are dominating, they will have the opportunity to make decisions, and create whatever rules that benefit them, which makes women more subjected to inequality and discrimination. According to pew research, 22% of employed women said they have experienced sexual harassment on the job, compared with 7% of employed men, (Gramlich, 2017). When it comes to the political parties, 54% of Republicans (or those who lean Republican) say the country “has been about right” when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, meanwhile, Democrats (or those who are left-leaning), 69% say the U.S. must do more to ensure women equal rights, (Zillman, 2017). According to the conflict theory that conflict, the powerful political party can create the rules that benefits it, and the weaker party will have to compete against the powerful one, and that competition or the conflict between those parties should create a social change.

Social norms, and roles encourage society to value men and devalue women, even if there are anti-discrimination laws that discourage this attitude. Besides, qualified women may be passed over for promotions because they become pregnant (pregnancy discrimination) or because they might become pregnant (gender discrimination.), jobs may be offered to a less qualified male applicant just because he is male; women are also more likely to be judged by their looks and how they dress than are their male counterparts. On a note of contradiction, women are not only discriminated against for being ‘pretty’ or ‘provocative’ they are also discriminated against for being not pretty, too old, or, in some positions for not being sexy enough (Wolfe, 2017).

The more powerful you are the more you can dominate, but, that domination will cost you, as you can face many concurrences with the minorities or the suffering group. These concurrences, will lead to revolution, or wars, these wars or revolutions will lead to social change, that’s how the conflict theory illustrate society. The conflict that exist between males and females has lead to Feminism, which is an intellectual, consciousness-raising movement based on the idea that women and men should be accorded equal opportunities and respect, this movement clearly demonstrate that the conflict theory can truly create a change in societal beliefs, however, that change can take a long time, and those who need or want to create a change can suffer and face a lot of sacrifices to obtain what they are asking for.